This Judge In Wrong Job

August 01, 1985|The Morning Call

Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Alexander J. Macones had quite a day one day last week. First he dismissed murder charges against three men because the prosecuting assistant district attorney had been called away to present a related case down the hallway. Then he dropped a homicide charge against a fourth man, claiming inadequate evidence against him.

Philadelphia District Attorney Edward G. Rendell called it "absolute lunacy." That was putting it mildly.

Consider some of the circumstances. These were preliminary hearings, where the prosecution must prove only probable cause, not trials.

The first three defendants were indicted in the murder of James "Muscles" Reynolds after a yearlong grand jury investigation of cocaine trafficking. They are Esaw Burroughs, Morris Willis, who was extradited from California, and his brother, Howard Willis, who was extradited from North Carolina.

Obviously, the District Attorney's Office had gone to some lengths to bring them in - and not without reason. Police say a North Philadelphia-South Philadelphia battle for control of cocaine distribution has resulted in at least five deaths from gunshot wounds. Prosecutors said two of the dead were witnesses to other murders and had agreed to testify. A sixth person was paralyzed from the neck down.

Prosecution witnesses, for obvious reasons, are scarce - and reluctant. But the impatient Judge Macones simply dismissed the charges when defense attorneys complained that the prosecutor's absence was "unfair" to their clients. Never mind the fact that the assistant district attorney had left word with the court that he had been called elsewhere. Never mind one report that the judge himself was late for the hearing.

The three ex-defendants were freed on the spot. At this writing, one of them, Burroughs, has been re-arrested on the same charges. The Willis brothers are still sought.

Not satisfied with this cavalier approach to "justice," Judge Macones dropped charges against Walter Pieczonka. The "insufficient" evidence the police had: They found a man fatally beaten in Pieczonka's home, followed a trail of blood and found Pieczonka under a blanket, hands and arms covered with blood. They said he told them, "I did it all."

Fortunately Pieczonka was returned to jail on other charges - and the homicide charge against him has been reinstated.

District Attorney Rendell has called for investigations. Fine. But two instances of irresponsible injustice in a single day strongly indicate that Judge Macones is in the wrong business. Law enforcement and the public suffer as a result.